Five Years
by OurScars
Summary: 003 series. Jumba has been acting very strange lately. Could it have anything to do with an experimant that he clames he made five years ago. One who is making attemps on Lilo's life?
1. Chapter 1: A Bad Begining

Disclaimer: Lilo & Stitch and all related characters are the property of Disney and Chris Sanders. 003 is mine.

Note: the following is a story that is only the beginning of a series called the "003 series". This statement will be in the summery of all stories with my OC, Jason/003. This is to distinguish it from my other fanfics.

Please Review, and Please Enjoy.

**Chapter One: A Bad Beginning**

"Stitch, get in here!" Lilo called from the living room, "There's an experiment on the news!" Stitch ran out from the kitchen, sliding a little as he came to a halt in front of the television. There was, indeed, an experiment on the news. It was bright orange and looked almost exactly like a wild boar. Its aspirant power was disintegrating things, because that was exactly what it was doing. A red beam was shooting from the empty space between its two tusks, and anything that it hit turned into a small pile of dust.

"Cousin, goobaja," Stitch said, heading to the door.

"Wait, Stitch, don't you think we should ask Jumba about this experiment? Maybe find out any weaknesses?" Lilo said, grabbing his arm. Together, they walked to Jumba and Pleakley's room. As they entered the room, they saw Pleakley watering another plant that would most likely die in a few days, and Jumba sitting at his computer.

"Well hello, Lilo," Pleakley said with a pleasant smile. Then a little less cheery, "Little Monster." The three waited a moment for Jumba's booming voice to go 'Little Girl! 626!' like it always did when he saw them. But it didn't come. Jumba just sat there slowly typing away, all four of his eyes half closed.

"You don't look so good, did you get enough sleep last night?" Lilo asked.

"I am fine," Jumba said simply, without looking up.

"Uh, if you say so. We were actually wandering if you could give us some information on an experiment," Lilo replied.

"I knew you would be asking, so I printed out information," Jumba handed her three sheets of paper, again, not averting his eyes from the screen. Lilo nodded her thanks and they ran out of the house, passing a work-bound Nani on the way out the door.

They only had to go a little ways into town to locate the experiment. Luckily, all of the people, including reporters and cameramen had decided that it was too dangerous and had fled. It was too dangerous for anyone to be there. The experiment was firing off its disintegration ray in any and all directions, if that crowd had been there, people would have gotten killed.

"You know what to do, Stitch," Lilo said, passing him a capture container. Stitch nodded, reverting to his alien form and putting the container under his lower right arm. He took off at full speed, jumping nine feet in the air as the experiment spotted him. Coming down on top of it, Stitch landed with one foot on each tusk, driving its head into the ground. There was a flash of red as Stitch back flipped off its face, letting it lift its head and shake off the dust that had been the ground in front of it.

The experiment looked at him, its eyes wild. It stomped its hoof on the ground and charged. Stitch rolled out of the way, turned, and gave chase. He caught up with it quickly, running alongside of it, matching it step for step. Grabbing one of its tusks, Stitch and the experiment slid in a corkscrew fashion until they both came to a screeching halt. Stitch grabbed its other tusk in one of his free paws and planted himself firmly in front of the wild experiment. A red glow started to come from the space between its two tusks. Eyes going wide, Stitch pulled on the tusks in opposite directions, and with a snap, broke them both off.

Giving off a scream of pain, the experiment rolled over on its back in a sign of defeat. Stitch let the two pieces of bone clatter to the ground, stuffing the experiment into the capture container. According to the papers that Jumba had given them, breaking off the tusks was the only way to stop its disintegration power. Not only that, but the tusks would grow back in just a few days.

"Yay, Stitch," Lilo exclaimed, running up to him. She bent over and took a good look at the experiment. "I think the town dump would be a good place to put him. He could just disintegrate all of the trash."

Stitch nodded, and then something caught his eye. It was a deep blue, and glowing, and it was heading right for them. Shoving Lilo forcefully back, Stitch jumped backwards himself. The blue thing went right between them, cutting a deep swath into the asphalt. Looking in the direction that it had come from, Stitch saw a short figure slowly approaching them. As it came into view, Stitch said only one thing, "Cousin."

It was just a little shorter than Stitch, and wore a robe-like piece of tattered brown cloth. From what they could see of its hands, feet, and chest, it had green fur with a pale green belly. No claws tipped it fingers or toes, but that didn't mean that it wasn't dangerous. A hood hid its face, but they could see something glowing blue within the shadow.

The experiment continued to walk towards them at a leisurely pace. It lifted its right paw, and spread its fingers wide. A window next to Lilo suddenly shattered, the broken pieces of glass hanging in the air. With a flick of the experiments wrist, the shards of glass shot out, all aimed at Lilo. Stitch moved like lightning, placing himself between Lilo and the flying daggers of glass. All of the shards bounced harmlessly off of his bulletproof hide. The experiment continued to move closer to them.

"Get out of the way, brother. You are not my target," the experiment said in a deadpan, flinging Stitch across the street without even touching him. Stitch did not, however, hit the ground. Instead, he stayed suspended in the air, hovering a few inches off of the ground. The experiment lifted one of its green paws in Lilo's direction, its entire hand surrounded in an orb of deep blue light. Stitch's eyes went wide as it fired off a short blast.

But it didn't hit her. In front of Lilo stood a massive wall of ice, its front caved in from the experiment's blast. "Slushy!" Lilo said in surprise. Standing atop the wall was the ice experiment, its arms crossed and a smile on its face.

"Why do my younger brothers continue to thwart my attempts at success?" the green experiment muttered. With a wave of its hand, Stitch dropped to the ground. Using its other hand, it pointed at Slushy. As the experiment lifted its finger, Slushy rose, until the experiment flicked its wrist and pointed across the street. Then Slushy was thrown over there. With both hands this time, the experiment caused the large ice wall that Slushy had made to lift into the air and rotate until it was horizontal. It then moved the wall overtop Lilo. It let go.

Lilo started to run, but there was no way that she could make it. The sheet of ice slammed into the ground and shattered. Lilo, however, was not under it. She was on Stitch's back, a few feet away from the impact zone. The experiment grumbled something, and then froze. Literally. It was now encased in a solid chunk of ice as Slushy stood a few feet away.

Cracks began to appear in the ice that continued to widen. The ice prison shattered. But as soon as the experiment was free, it was on its back. Stitch, after putting Lilo down, had dove through the shattering ice and tackled the experiment to the ground. Holding onto it by its robe, Stitch head butted it in the face. As the experiment's head hit the ground, its hood came off, revealing its face. Its mouth, currently contorted in pain, was filled with many fanglike teeth. It had black hair, separate from the fur, atop its head with streaks of gray running through it. A small purple-blue nose that looked like it had come right off of Jumba's face sat in the middle of its face. When it opened its eyes, Stitch saw a major difference. Where most experiments had completely black eyes, this experiment had two white, cat-like pupils swimming in its otherwise black eyes. In the center of its forehead, a third eye snapped open. The entire eye was blue and was placed vertically. A glow emanated from the third eye.

"Not what you expected, little brother?" the experiment asked, looking Stitch strait in the eye. Stitch was suddenly thrown off of the experiment with enough force to knock the wind out of him. The experiment slowly stood up and looked around. Slushy was already inhaling for another ice based attack, and Stitch was back on his feet, teeth bared and fingers flexing. Its eyes hesitated for a moment on Lilo before it closed all but its third eye. "A tactical retreat seems necessary," the experiment said slowly. Its form flickered and was gone. The other two experiments relaxed.

"What are you doing? He's right there! He's just walking away!" Lilo exclaimed. The other two saw nothing.


	2. Chapter 2: Destruction From Within

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Chapter Two: Destruction From Within 

"I know you said that you couldn't see him, but I don't understand why you couldn't when I could," Lilo said, stressing over the new experiment that presented himself like none of the others had before. By trying to kill her. "Could you see him?" she asked the experiment in the container under Stitch's arm. It shook its head and muttered a rough "Naga." Lilo threw up her hands in frustration. "Maybe Jumba will know," Lilo said as she opened the door to the house. As they entered, a very anxious Pleakley greeted them.

"Lilo! Little Monster! Thank goodness you're here!" In frenzy, the freaked out Plorgian rushed them into the kitchen.

"Chill out, Pleakley. What's wrong?" Lilo inquired.

"I think that Jumba's been replaced with an android!" Pleakley nearly shouted, waving his arms in the air to be dramatic.

"You thought that last week too," Lilo sighed. Stitch rolled his eyes and left to let the reformed experiment out in the backyard.

"Well, yeah. But this time I think I'm right. You saw him earlier; he was like one of those zombie things you see in those old movies. He hasn't done anything all day. He just sat at his computer like this," Pleakley did his impression of Jumba by hunching his back and half closing his eye, as well as moving his fingers in a lazy typing pattern.

"He does that everyday, and its only noon. Now I have to go ask him something, so I'll be sure to look for a battery pack or something," Lilo said sarcastically.

"Be sure to watch out for the death-ray, oh the death-ray," Pleakley said as Lilo walked away. The little girl shook her head as she walked to Jumba and Pleakley's room. She did have to agree with 'Mr. Conspiracy' on one thing though: Jumba wasn't his usual self. He had always been one of the biggest personalities in the room, no pun intended. Today, he just seemed dull.

"Hey, Jumba," Lilo said as she entered the room. Jumba gave her a quiet grunt in response. "Okay, was just wandering if you had some information on another experiment."

"Which one?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know. I didn't get a good look at him 'cause he was wearing a cloak. But he had green fur and could move things with his mind," Lilo said.

"With mind you say?" Jumba's eyes lit up with interest and he averted his eyes from the computer to look at her.

"Yeah, it had to be. Things around him were moving, but he wasn't touching them. He could shoot these laser things too. Only Stitch said that they weren't lasers because they didn't give off heat…"

"Could it be?" Jumba said quietly, his eyes lighting up even more. He lifted his head and sat up straighter in his chair. It was only for a minute though, before his eyes went dull again and his body drooped. As he slouched again, something caught Lilo's eye. At the base of Jumba's neck, on his back, something squirmed. It happened so fast that Lilo wasn't sure she had really seen it. But real or not, it gave her the creeps.

"Lilo," Pleakley's voice called from the living room. Lilo almost welcomed the call as she walked out of the room. Jumba didn't seem to notice. As she entered the living room, Pleakley pointed out the window. "I think one of your friends is here." Lilo looked out the window and gasped. It was the experiment again.

The experiment lifted both of his hands out in front him to chest level and closed his hands as if grasping something. Lilo grabbed Pleakley by the waist and threw her and him back as far as she could. And instant later, the entire front wall of the house was violently ripped away. The experiment stood perfectly still as the debris landed all around him. His arms were now extended at his sides. The wind blew and his hood came off.

Lilo looked up to see the damage and then looked at Pleakley. "That is not my friend." Then louder, "STITCH!" Stitch came charging down the hallway, skidding to a halt in the doorway to the living room. "We're okay, but guess who's back," Lilo said, pointing at the experiment. Stitch charged and jumped several feet into the air. His intent was to come down on the experiment with all of his strength behind a punch. But the experiment was somehow able to parry that punch. With an open hand, he pushed Stitch's fist off to the side and grabbed his shoulder with his other hand. Using Stitch's momentum against him, the experiment lifted Stitch's shoulder and lowered his fist, then let go.

Stitch tumbled madly across the driveway, flipping to his feet at the end of his last roll. He turned as he reverted to alien form. Quietly approaching him, Stitch tried to attack from behind. His fist hit something solid mere inches away from the experiment. The air seemed to ripple outward from his punch, and Stitch realized that the experiment was now wrapped in a protective force field.

"You're limited to physical melee attacks, little brother. So now, I've become immune to you," the experiment said blankly, not even turning to look at him. He started walking slowly to the house, and there was nothing Stitch could do to stop him. No matter how many times he struck the barrier, there didn't seem to be any effect. There had to be something, some way to break through or use it against him. That was it; use it against him. Stitch grabbed onto the bubble surrounding the experiment, and lifted. The force field came lifted easily, and with it, the experiment.

With all his might, Stitch slammed it into the ground. The force field didn't rupture, but the experiment inside was thrown against the sides with enough force to cause blood to spurt out its nose. Crimson liquid spattered the inside of the force field. Stitch lifted it up a second time. With a snap, the experiment dismissed the field and flipped to his feet, attempting a sweep kick. Stitch jumped and turned midair to deliver two punches with his right arms.

The experiment shifted its weight just enough to miss the punches, and returned with a palm to the face. Stitch turned his head to avoid it as the two broke apart. Lifting his left hand, the experiment showed off a glowing blue, blade like projection extending from his palm. There was a stinging in Stitch's right cheek. He reached up to touch it, and when he took his hand away, he saw some of his own pinkish blood. With its other hand, the experiment wiped its bloody nose and charged.

"What is going on," Jumba asked groggily as stepped into the living room.

"The experiment I was trying to tell you about just pulled out the wall," Lilo responded.

"003," Jumba said in shock. Lilo moved over to him and tugged on his shirt to get him to look at her.

"We need anything you have on this one," she said urgently.

"I made him five years ago, but he didn't work. He didn't even wake up," Jumba said in disbelief. Then his shoulders sagged and his eyelids drooped. Over his shoulder, Lilo saw that squirming again, and this time, she knew she saw it.

Stitch rolled to the side to avoid a swing from the experiment's sword, and caught him with a return claw to the arm. 003 turned and swung at his feet. Stitch jumped and then had to twist immediately to avoid getting stabbed in the chin as 003 erected another blade from his other hand. Landing, Stitch jabbed and caught him in the jaw, but got a cut in the thigh from one of the force blades. The experiment was lifted off his feet by the jab and landed flat on his back.

Stitch attempted to jump on top of him, but 003 caught him with his feet and threw Stitch over his head. Landing on his hands, Stitch quickly switched back to his feet as the experiment came charging at him. He parried the first stab, and almost gasped in surprise as the blade sunk into the wood of the stairs. 003's second blade disappeared and he placed his palm on Stitch's chest. "That's right, brother," he said. Stitch knew immediately what he meant, 003 had manipulated the fight so each step took them closer to the house, and his goal. 003 thrust him palm against Stitch, and using extra mental force, blew him several hundred yards into the woods that surrounded the house.

003 let his other blade dissipate, and then climbed the steps. Lilo, Jumba, and Pleakley were gone, or at least going. They were on the other side of the door leading out to the other side of the kitchen. Extending his one hand, 003 lifted Lilo several feet in the air. By slowly closing his hand, he started to crush her frail body. Jumba slammed the door shut, and 003 heard Lilo fall to the ground on the other side. Changing his hand position, 003 tested the door's weight in preparation to blow it in. Right as he was about to apply the final push, he was thrown across the room by twenty plus pounds of blue furred furry.

Growling in the experiment's face, Stitch held him against the wall by the brown cloak that he wore. "This is the last warning, brother. Get out of my way," 003 said simply, despite the fact that Stitch had him lifted off his feet. Stitch snapped in his face. 003's eyes went wide, his pupils contracting until they were little slits. In return, Stitch's eyes went wide, his grip loosened till 003 dropped to the floor. He took several shaky steps back and fell to his knees. Grabbing his head, Stitch let out a roar of pain. Then he passed out.

"Stitch!" Lilo shouted. 003 looked over at her. He hadn't noticed her as Stitch held him against the wall. A piece of splintered wood only a few feet away from her lifted up and shot strait at her. It was a clear shot, and would have struck her in the neck. Had it not been for Pleakley. Pleakley pushed her out of the way just in time, and the splinter shot past them and imbedded itself in the wall.

"I told you to get out of my way!" the experiment called out to them. He reached out, and with a sharp jerk, ripped Jumba and Pleakley from their places and sent them hurdling toward him. 003 jumped as they came near, and struck each with a palm in the chest. The air rippled as the extra energy sent them back half as far as they had come, placing them in the center of the kitchen.

Jumba sat up a bit and tried to catch his breath. He hadn't been hit that hard since Stitch had beaten him repeatedly with a car. In quick realization, he looked over at Pleakley. The skinny alien was sprawled on his back, his large eye closed, and a dark green blood was seeping from his mouth. Quickly putting his ear to the other's chest, Jumba heard a single, steady heartbeat. A very bad sign. That meant that his second heart had failed.

A torrent of emotion rushed through the larger alien. Anger, sadness, pain, and rage. All ripped through ripped through him as a blinding pain blossomed at the base of his neck. As he lifted his head, he cupped his hand over the spot that hurt. He felt something move. Taking his hand away, he saw what looked to be a normal earth centipede. Normal, except for the markings on each section of its body in unnatural shades of red. It crawled around his hand before settling in his palm and rolling into a ball.

003 approached him slowly, the energy saber reappearing from his palm. He suddenly brought the blade up, bringing the point only inches from Jumba's eye. "Get out of my way," he said, his voice the same deadpan as always. Sparks started going off all around the room. Every electronic device in the house seemed to go off at once. "What trickery is this?" 003 demanded, his eyes darting whenever something sparked. Jumba ignored him, too concerned with Pleakley and the thing in his hand.

Lightning fired from every direction, coming from electronics, metallic objects, and even out of the walls. Each and every blot hit 003, causing the experiment to let out a cry of pain. 003 collapsed to the ground as soon as the lightning stopped, small sparks of yellow electricity coursing across his skin. His blade was gone, and as he stood up, Jumba backhanded him hard in the face. Bouncing off of the wall, 003 landed in a heap on the floor. From out of the microwave a yellow, lightning bolt like experiment emerged. It was 221, or as some better knew him, Sparky. Jumba stood up, casting the centipede to the ground. He stood over 003, blocking the experiment's chance of escape with his bulk. Sparky moved around him, sparks shooting off of him as he growled.

003 stood up slowly, using the wall behind it for support. He looked up to see Jumba and Sparky standing before him quite menacingly. Raising his hand, he thrust it out as if to push them away. But nothing happened. Jumba took note that the experiment's third eye was now closed tight. The experiment looked around franticly, desperately looking for a way out. Before either could stop him, 003 reached up and pulled a bag of flour of the counter. The bag exploded, sending its fine, white dust up into the air. In the confusion, 003 managed to slip between Jumba and Sparky. He ran to the nearest exit and ran off into the woods. Sparky started to follow, but Jumba stopped him.

"Go help Little Girl with 626," Jumba coughed from the flour dust.

"What about Pleakley?" Lilo asked as she moved toward an unconscious Stitch.

"I must operate immediately," Jumba answered, picking the Plorgian and whisking him off to the lab in his ship.


	3. Chapter 3: Destruction Through Knowldege

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Chapter Three: Destruction Through Knowledge 

Jumba heaved a huge sigh as he stumbled out of the operating room. The metal door hissed shut behind him before anyone had a chance to look inside. "So?" Lilo asked, looking up at him from one of the chairs in the front part of the ship. She was sitting in one of the aisle seats with Stitch's head in her lap.

"Pleakley is perfectly fine," Jumba lied, pulling off a pair of rubber gloves.

"Don't give me any crap, Jumba," Lilo replied sternly. Jumba couldn't help but give a weak chuckle in response.

"Pleakley is unconscious, and on life support. His second heart was crushed. The machines are the only things keeping him alive," Jumba sighed again, running his hand over his nearly baldhead.

"Oh," she whispered, hanging her head. "And what about Stitch?" she asked quietly.

"He will be fine, be wakening up any moment now," Jumba said truthfully.

"What was that experiment? 003, you called it?" she asked as Jumba sat down across from her.

"Yes, that was 003," Jumba's head sagged back against the head rest, "In some ways, he was my biggest failure. I made him five years ago, to this day. But he never woke up. After the successes of 001 and 002, Jumba was a little overconfident. Jumba decided to create the ultimate application of the mind. He was supposed to be the ultimate monster long before 626 was ever a thought in evil genius mind. 003 was to be able to read minds, trick people's senses, and create enough force to crush an entire planet, all with his mind! But when he didn't wake up, Jumba did not understand what was wrong. All of his vitals were normal, and his brain was showing increased activity, as was expected. So I put him in a separate part of the lab and continued working on my other evil genius experiments. Eventually, Jumba forgot all about 003."

"Until he decided to try and rip apart our family," Lilo said. Jumba just nodded. Stitch started muttering and clawing at the air. "Stitch, it's alright. Calm down," Lilo reassured him. After a few seconds, he stopped and slowly opened his eyes. Sitting upright, Stitch started talking very rapidly in his native tongue.

"626! Calm down. Tell me exactly what happened," Jumba said, getting up and kneeling next to Lilo's seat. Stitch again began speaking rapidly in his alien tongue, his hands moving in circles to put emphasis on select words. Jumba nodded all the while, and when Stitch had finished, he let out a large sigh. "Looks like evil genius experiment works perfectly." Jumba looked a Lilo, who wore a confused look. "003 showed 626 the destruction of everything he cared about, including himself, all in a single instant. It was too much for even 626's supercomputer mind to handle. His mind shut down and he passed out."

Stitch jumped up to his feet, growling something in his language. Jumba nodded and responded in the same tongue. "I hate it when you guys do that," Lilo interrupted.

"626 thinks that he has discovered some weaknesses of 003," Jumba explained. Stitch shook his head eagerly.

"And?" Lilo prodded.

"Few things. One, 003 can only do one thing at a time. This is leaving him with no defense when using powers. Two, he can only manipulate what he can see. Three, from what happened during last fight; it appears that electricity short-circuits all abilities," Jumba translated, becoming excited when he mentioned the last piece of information.

"So if we hurry, his powers might still be out. And if not, Sparky can just zap him again," Lilo said. Jumba nodded sharply. "Well, what are we waiting for? Every second we waste is another second 003 could be regaining his powers. Now we just need to find him and kick his butt."

"First part is already taken care of," Jumba said, pulling out his palm computer, "Based on sharp increase of brain wave activity in warehouse, Jumba is having no doubts as to location."

"Then let's kick butt."

The buggy pulled up to the warehouse about a half-hour later, its occupants exiting the vehicle as quietly as possible. "Now remember," Lilo whispered, "Sparky, you zap him as soon as you see him. Then Stitch will punch him really hard." The two experiments nodded eagerly. Stitch pulled open the heavy door and they looked into the large room's dark interior. A small streak of blue light dashed across the room, setting Sparky off. Lightning bolts lit up the warehouse as Sparky tried to strike the elusive 003.

Jumba rolled his eyes and flipped the light switch just inside the door. The room lit up, revealing 003's location. He stood above them, in the bare rafters near the center of the room.

"Hello, little brothers," 003 greeted, an insane grin splayed across his face. "Hello, father," he continued with a deep bow, "How is your friend? I hit you two a little hard, didn't I?" Jumba looked at the experiment in confusion. Its entire demeanor had changed from cold and calculating, to a deranged psychopath. Almost as if to confirm his suspicion, 003 let out an insane cackle. "Have you come to play, little brothers? Then let's have fun!" 003 suddenly dropped from the rafter, slowly gliding to the floor as a pair of small wings unfurled from behind him.

Sparky shot another bolt of lightning at the experiment. It struck something in front of 003 and bounced off at an odd angle, striking the adjacent wall. "My turn!" 003 shouted as he dismissed the force field he had used to block the bolt. He punched his fist out into the air, and Sparky was forced out of the open door, and into the wall of the neighboring building.

Stitch let out a roar and charged at him. Before the experiment could react, 626 slammed him as hard as he could. 003 landed a few feet away in a heap before slowly standing. "Oh, brother," 003 said, becoming manic, "I've finally found something to rip through that thick hide of yours!" The experiment eyes widened insanely when it said the word rip. 003 held his hand out in front of him, palm up. A small blue spark shot up, then another, and within a second, the experiment's hand was alive with electricity. He brought his other hand down on top of the charge and compacted it into a ball the size of a baseball. Then he lifted the deadly creation into the air, letting the countless electrical tendrils cast their light upon the area. "I know your weakness," the experiment roared over the cackling of the lightning ball, "It's only fair that I show you mine!" He turned his back to Stitch, pulling down the neck of his tattered robe. On the base of his neck, he revealed what appeared to be a bloated centipede.

"What on earth is that thing?" Lilo thought aloud. The dancing light of the lightning ball made it difficult to tell the insects' colors, but it appeared to have the same markings as the one Jumba had had.

"Jumba is recognizing it now," the evil genius breathed. It was the perfect explanation for the experiment's sudden change in behavior, as well as the behaviors he displayed both now and in the past. "That is being very early experiment, from back when Jumba was working for Galactic Federation."

Before he could continue, 003 let out an insane cackle and turned back to face Stitch. "Let's Play!" he shouted right before charging at 626. Stitch rolled to the side as 003 brought the electric orb down in an arcing swipe. There was a huge crash of thunder as the attack connected with the concrete floor. The concrete shattered like glass, forming a sizable crater. 003 yanked his hand out of the blasted hole, and swung again. 626 took a jumping step back from the electric attack. Although Stitch cleared the attack by a few feet, he was struck by some invisible force and violently flung back. "Don't you know your science, brother?" 003 shouted, "Thunder, you see, is just the air being rapidly heated by lightning. This causes the air to explode!" 003 laughed as he saw the look of realization on Stitch's face. "So you see, brother! If the lightning doesn't get you, the thunder will!" He charged again, swinging the lightning wildly. Stitch struggled to keep his distance not only from the deadly lightning, but also from the thunder-born explosions.

"626 must stay away from 003," Jumba told Lilo as they moved to find some cover.

"But I thought Stitch was invincible," Lilo countered.

"Is not physical damage Jumba is worrying about," Jumba answered, "003's electrical charge is building. If charge gets high enough, could be stopping 626's heart."

"Then we need to stop him," Lilo said. She turned to find some way to help.

"No!" Jumba exclaimed, "Charge is already far above little girl's range. Little girl can't be getting anywhere near battle." Lilo looked at him defiantly. "It's you he's after," Jumba reasoned softly, taking her hand and pulling her back.

"But we have to do something," she replied stubbornly. Despite her bullheadedness, she couldn't find way past Jumba's reasoning.

"And we will," Jumba reassured her. They moved behind a stack of crates. "Experiment _on_ 003 is being real troublemaker. Is early experiment, from even before numbered experiments. Experiment is designed to make interrogation easier by draining victim of all emotion. This is making subject follow order almost without question. It attaches to spinal column and feeds on the subject's feelings. Was huge failure; if experiment is staying attached too long, is causing insanity."

"So we just have to remove it," Lilo reasoned. "How?"

"Only way other than physically separating the two is to cause 003 to feel very strong emotion. Too much emotion at once causes experiment to detach."

"You got a plan?"

"Jumba is still working on that part," the evil genius admitted. The stack of crates shook as Stitch struck against them, having been hit by thunder. Lilo peaked around the edge of the crates and saw 003 standing a few yards away, holding the lightning out in front of him. He was just letting the charge build up in preparation to fire it off as a real bolt of lightning. Stitch was leaning heavily against the crates, clearly exhausted from dodging the lightning and thunder.

"Think faster Jumba," Lilo pleaded. Jumba felt the urgent tone in her voice and tried to think. But it was for vain. He didn't know anything about 003 other than his powers. His likes, dislikes, fears, nothing. The same was true for all of his experiments; he didn't really know anything about _them_. Lilo saw that Jumba couldn't come up with anything, and as she saw 003 prepare to fire, she reacted purely on instinct.

"Hey," she yelled as she ran out from behind the safety of the crates. 003 spotted her and smiled manically as he pointed the lightning at her. Jumba stared in disbelief. For one of the few times in his life, Jumba acted without thinking. Seeing that Stitch was too far away to get to her in time, he jumped out and grabbed Lilo. They both fell to the ground as 003 fired. The bolt of lightning missed them by mere inches, though they caught the full force of the thunder.

Jumba wrapped his arms around Lilo and acted as a cushion as they were violently thrown about. He groaned at the pain as he landed on his back. Thanks to Jumba, she was unharmed, although a little shaken up. Lilo looked up, trying to spot 003. She did manage to locate 003, although it was difficult, seeing as Stitch was attempting to choke the life out of him. Stitch was suddenly flung into the air as 003 employed his powers. The experiment got to his feet, a look of rage displayed clearly across his face.

"Why do you always get in the way?!" 003 shouted. He grabbed the two with his powers and separated them. Then, with a flick of his wrist, he sent Jumba crashing into the stack of crates. The stack collapsed, burying him in wood. "Now," 003 growled, "Now the time has come to do what I was sent here to do!" He lifted Lilo into the air and held her there for a moment, thinking of a suitable way to end it. He shouldn't have waited.

Stitch came up behind him and delivered a hard punch to what was the equivalent of his kidney. 003 cried out in pain, forcing him to drop Lilo. He dropped to his knees, but then turned unexpectedly, backhanding Stitch in the face. The blow was enhanced with mental energy, and sent Stitch flying through one of the support pillars of the building. There was a terrible creaking sound as the support gave and then was caught by the several remaining pillars.

"It's over!" 003 raged, forming a ball of psychic energy in his palm. It was at this time that Jumba finished digging through his grave of wood. 003 threw the orb at Lilo. Jumba moved faster than he would have ever thought possible, managing to intercept the blow. The attack struck him square in the chest, blowing him up and over Lilo, and into the wall behind her. Lilo ran over to him after he fell back to the ground, landing on his side. He let out a groan and then coughed up a bit of crimson blood.

Jumba slowly opened his eyes to see Lilo standing over him. Despite his current status, he smiled. Had that orb struck Lilo, it would have killed her. The attack had been stronger than the one that had hit him and Pleakley back at the house. But he had saved her, and for that, he was thankful.

"Why do you keep saving her?" 003 asked. The question was not an angry demand; it was simply a question. To 003, Jumba's actions made no sense at all. Why would Jumba risk his life for this earthling child? He looked at Jumba for the answer, his one hand beginning to shake. "Why?"

"Because," Jumba answered, propping himself up on one arm and wrapping the other around Lilo's shoulders, "I care about her." 003's eyes narrowed in confusion. His other hand began to shake, and he brought both his hands up to eye level.

"What?" he asked, looking between his hands and Jumba. He was breathing heavily, panting almost. Jumba realized what was happening, and took full advantage.

"Because I love her," Jumba answered again, "as if she were my own daughter."

003 covered his ears and shook his head. "Love?" he whispered, and then louder, "That doesn't make any sense!" 003 ground his teeth against a pain building in his neck. He fell to his knees from a combination of the pain and the emotions that were going through his mind. None of it made any sense! Tears welled up in his eyes. Love didn't make any sense!

003 looked up at them through teary eyes. "Why?" he whispered.

Then the world went black.


	4. Chapter 4: True Colors

Please Review and Please Enjoy.

**Chapter Four: True Colors**

Slowly, ever so slowly, 003 came back into consciousness. As soon as his mind was back in reality, a sharp pain blossomed on the back of his neck. Immediately his hand went to the spot, feeling what was wrong. He felt two small holes in his skin, and they were slightly swollen, like a bug bite. Opening his eyes, 003 found himself in a small metal room. There were no windows; in fact the room was completely bare. Dim illumination came from a single light set in the ceiling. Where was he?

003's third eye snapped open and he 'felt' the room with his mind. He pushed against everything slightly, just checking to see how sturdy the walls were. The door, although hidden, was reviled to him through his psychic sense of touch. But he still didn't know where he was, or how he got here. 003 sat down in the center of his little room and focused inward. Running along the different parts of his mind, he quickly found the one for his five senses. Then, he used his powers to modify and enhance them. Suddenly, he was aware of everything around him. He felt the slightest movement in the air, and saw every detail of his little room. But most importantly, he could hear past the walls. Voices from outside came to him as whispers. So he let up on his other senses and put all of his power into his hearing.

"…hurt? Is Stitch alright?" came the voice of a child, a girl specifically.

"626 is once again fine, only few burns from electricity. 221 is also fine," replied another voice, much deeper and masked with a thick accent.

"What are we going to do about Pleakley?" the girl asked after a moment.

"Must be calling Galactic Medical Transport. Just hope they will come to this planet," the other voice replied.

"And what about him?" asked the girl again, but her voice was suddenly thick with disgust.

"Who, oh, him. Now that insect experiment is off, Little Girl should be doing 'turn to good' that she is always doing," the accented voice said offhandedly. Both voices stopped as the sound of an approaching vehicle became clearly audible. It was quickly followed by the distressed shriek of an adult female.

"Nani" the girl said, at the same time that the other voice groaned, "Larger Girl." There was the hiss of a door, then footsteps that approached 003's room. There were three sets of footsteps, 003 noted, leaving one person unidentified. What was he thinking? They were all unidentified. He didn't know any of those voices.

"Jumba?" said the girl, stopping suddenly.

"Yes, Little Girl?" replied the voice that must belong to 'Jumba.'

"Those things that you said back at the warehouse, did you mean it?"

"Of course," Jumba replied, his voice softening. The footsteps resumed, and then there was the hiss of another door. 003 waited a few moments, wanting to make sure that they would not come back.

Deciding that they were gone, 003 stood up and released the enhancements on his senses. He faced the hidden door and pushed on it with his mind. It groaned slightly, but didn't budge. It was because he couldn't actually see the door, and therefore couldn't use his powers to their fullest. But he quickly thought of a way to get around that limitation. Focusing on his hand, 003 formed a ball of force, and threw it at the door's location. The orb struck and made a large dent in the door. So he did it again, twice more before the door was blown out of the wall, creating his exit.

003's little room opened up to another, much larger room. The entirety of one wall was dedicated to a large computer, and other equipment surrounded the room. Walking up to the large computer, 003 laid his hands on the keyboard and pressed enter. The computer's screen lit up, and a window appeared, asking for a user name and password. 003 sighed and turned away; without the password, he would find no answers here. So he approached the door to the room that the others had been in. As he approached, some sensor must have detected him, for the door hissed open by itself.

003 found this third room to be full of medical equipment, most of it connected to a very skinny figure in the center of the room. Two heart monitors were the only noise in the room, one giving off a steady beat, the other flat lining. Whoever this person was, he had quite obviously been severely injured. Walking around to the figure's head, 003 placed his hands on the person's temples. As he closed his two normal eyes, his third eye opened. Maybe he could help.

Opening his eyes, 003 found himself on an open plain; only a single tree marked the area. A sound alerted him, the sound of metal on metal. 003 turned and saw two men, dressed in white shirts and black skirts fighting with curved swords.

"What's going on here?" 003 asked himself.

"It's a duel," came an answer. 003 looked to his side and saw the figure from the room standing beside him. Dressed in a light blue robe, the figure was watching the duel with one large eye. "In ancient Japan, warriors known as samurai fought each other in duels to the death over matters of honor," the figure said, "That's what the teacher taught us anyway." The person looked down at him and shrugged. "You look familiar," he said after a quick double take.

"Really?" 003 asked. The figure's name was Pleakley, he was able to get that much from just being inside of his head.

"Yeah, now I remember," Pleakley answered, becoming angry. His robe changed into a suit of medieval armor, complete with a sword. "You attacked our home and tried to hurt us. You're a bad person!" he shouted, attacking with the sword.

"What, no!" 003 countered, jumping to the side. "I didn't do that! I have honor, just like those guys!" It was only now that 003 noticed that the two samurai had stopped fighting and were now approaching him with their swords. Of course, this was Pleakley's mind, so everything here would react to Pleakley's thoughts.

"Yes you did!" Pleakley attacked again. 003 threw up a force field just in time to block the three blades. Rapidly expanding the force field, he turned it into a weapon, throwing the three to the ground. His third eye glowed slightly, and 003 waved his hand. The two samurai vanished, as well as Pleakley's sword. This may be Pleakley's mind, but 003 could still use his powers to change it.

"Show me," 003 said solemnly, pulling Pleakley up by the hand. The world suddenly blurred then refocused, only different. They were in a house, the entire front wall torn apart by some destructive force. Three figures ran from a smaller figure in a raggedy brown cloak. 003 somehow knew that that was him. He almost couldn't watch as he grabbed the largest figure and Pleakley and pulled them towards himself, striking them with blasts of force.

"This is the last thing I remember," Pleakley said, now standing beside him.

"I'm sorry," 003 hung his head.

"Why did you do it?" Pleakley asked him.

"I don't know," 003 answered, "But I'm going to find out. And I'm going to make this up to you." 003 closed his eyes again and searched across Pleakley's brain for the center that controlled his metabolism. Once he found it, he reworked the brain's operating pattern, taking energy from the conscious mind and transferring it to the growth and healing center. "It's done," he said.

"Thank you," Pleakley said, already feeling the positive effects. 003 nodded, then the world blurred away.

He once again found himself in the medical room, facing Pleakley's motionless form. 003 stumbled away, unable to accept what he had learned. He had attacked them, this family? He couldn't remember any of it, although he had gotten some names from Pleakley's mind. Jumba, the accented voice from earlier, Lilo, the little girl, and Stitch, and experiment and his younger brother. _"Hello brother!"_ the memory hit him like a hammer. The fight in the warehouse, just bits and pieces, flashes of images. He had done that. But not of his own free will, he realized that much. The bite marks in the back of his neck throbbed, telling him what he had already known. Someone had been controlling him with the bug. Now it was his turn to find out whom.

Shouting from outside broke 003's concentration. He recognized the voice patterns of severe stress and blaster fire. Something was very wrong. 003 was at the exit immediately, the door opening in a similar manner to the other. Salty air and bright sunlight greeted him as the door whooshed open. For the first time, 003 registered that he had been on a space ship hidden in the woods; down the hill a ways was the house from Pleakley's vision. Spreading his wings wide, 003 leaped into the air. And came crashing back down. Muttering an alien curse, he pulled his face out of the mud and took a look at his wings. It was no wonder he had fallen, his wings were nowhere near large enough to support his body weight. They only extended from his back, to a little above his head. That was only good enough for light gliding. So he had no choice but to run the distance. Almost subconsciously, his flexible wings twisted and pressed themselves flat against his back as he ran.

As he rounded the corner of the house, the commotion came into view. Stitch was battling a giant man/shark/elephant hybrid. Gantu, 003 instantly recognized the creature. It was through his ship that 003 had come to earth. But from where? It would have to wait, 003 was eager to prove himself and make up for his past doings. He kept running at Gantu, but a large bulk set itself in his path. 003 nearly ran into Jumba as the large alien stepped in front of him.

"How are you escaping?" Jumba bellowed. Those four eyes bore into 003, drilling right through him.

"I'm here to help," 003 responded, trying his best not to shy away from those eyes.

"You've helped enough already," Jumba countered, his voice dripping with venom. 003 couldn't help it, he looked away. It was evident to him that Jumba would not willingly let him past this point, so he did what he had to do. Feinting to the right, 003 quickly changed directions and ran left, counting on Jumba's slow reflexes to get him past. He hated that he had to resort to trickery, but 003 didn't look back. An energy sword materialized in his hands. But no longer was it a saber that came strait out of his palm, instead, 003 had modeled it after the swords of the samurai. From now on, he would fight with honor.

003 charged, bringing his sword to bear. His straightforward approach ensured that Gantu noticed him, and that he perceived him as an enemy. Gantu fired three shots at him, but 003 cut threw the plasma with ease. As 003 came level with Stitch, they exchanged eye contact, and 003 sent one word to him through telepathy. Ally. Stitch nodded, and the two brothers attacked. Stitch dove at Gantu's leg, his claws extended and his teeth bared. Reflexively, Gantu took a step back and lowered the aim of his blaster. 003 seized the opportunity. Leaping into the air, he came down with his sword, slicing through Gantu's blaster like butter. At nearly the same time, Stitch raked his claws into Gantu's leg. Gantu let out a roar of pain as he stumbled several steps away. The blaster was dropped uselessly to the ground.

"Now you've done it," Gantu growled, "Take this you stupid trogs!" Reaching into his belt, Gantu pulled out a small red orb, an experiment pod. But instead of a three-digit number on it, there was a large letter H. Unceremoniously, Gantu spit on the pod, then threw it into the air. Red light emanated from the glowing orb, bathing the area in red. With a final flash, the monstrosity was revealed. It was huge, easily challenging Gantu for height. Three serpent heads wreathed about, their red scales contrasting sharply with a fur covered body. Scythe-like claws protruded from its hands, and its long tail ended with a large bone mace.

Stitch yelled something over the creature's roars. It translated to, "Not a cousin!" 626 charged at it, reverting to his alien form. The creature roared its displeasure and let loose a torrent of flame from one of its mouths. Being immune to fire, Stitch didn't even bother with trying to dodge. The flames did, however, block his sight, blinding him to the creature's tail slap. Its blow sent Stitch reeling. Another of the heads turned to confront 003, unleashing another blast of fire. 003 managed to throw up a force field at the last second. Even through the shield, 003 could feel the incredible heat. Heat that melted the sand around him into glass. As the flames eased up, 003 dismissed his shield and charged at the creature.

Though the first two heads were still recovering from their displays of power, the middle head was still alert. As 003 came at the monster's body, the last head shot down at him, its mouth wide. Getting his sword up just in time, 003 blocked the creature's mighty jaws. The two became locked in a stalemate, the head's strength against 003's psychic might. But there were still the other two heads, now fully recovered. Stitch was up as well, but was too far away the come to his aid in time. They needed a diversion.

"No, you stupid trog!" Gantu shouted. "The experiments are fire proof, aim at them!" he pointed at Lilo, Nani, and Jumba. The creature, somehow bound to Gantu's words, turned its attention away from 626 and 003, and aimed all three of its heads at the vulnerable group. Each head took a deep breath, and loosed their fire.

"Naga!" Stitch shouted, too far away to do anything.

"No," 003 growled. The sword in his hand vanished and he thrust both hands out before him. He had no time to make a force field, and he doubted that he would even be able to make on large enough, but that didn't make him helpless. As far as he was concerned, he owed them more than he could ever pay back. His arms moved in a flowing, circular pattern in front of him. Whatever 003 was attempting to do was blocked out as the flames fell upon them.

"Naga!" Stitch shouted again. He charged at the hydra, blind with rage. Leaping into the air, his punch connected solidly with the side of the monster's closest head. That head slammed into the middle head, which was thrown into the last head. The initial head fell limp, and the other two heads swayed stupidly in a daze. Stitch looked upon the dying flames with dread. But as the fire cleared, he did not see what he had expected.

A large globe of red-hot glass surrounded his ohana, protecting them from the fire. Stitch looked over at 003, who still had his arms outstretched, but was now breathing heavily. 003 gritted his teeth, and with a grunt of effort, tore the glass dome apart. Glass shards were thrown outward, revealing the three inside to be unharmed. All the glass slivers stopped and hung in mid-air for a moment, before hurling themselves at the dazed creature. Most of the projectiles bounced off of or shattered against the scaly hide of the monster's heads, but the same could not be said for the furry body.

The two dazed heads roared in pain and shook themselves out of their stupor. One of the heads attacked Stitch, biting at his arms and head. The other head lunged at the unprotected 003, slamming him in the back and grinding him into the sand. Before the head could attack again, 003 got to his feet and retreated to a safe distance. 003 took a breath and assessed the situation. Already, the third head was beginning to wake up, and Stitch was already outnumbered. He could change that.

003 waved his hand, and nearly a dozen Stitches appeared out of nothingness. They were just illusions, images he made by tricking their minds. He tied off the power, as he had done with his sword, so that he would no longer have to concentrate on it. It was only possible with his weakest powers, and they would still fade after a few moments. 003 put his hand out in front of him, palm up, and concentrated. Sparks began to fly after a second, and he compacted the charge with his other hand. This attack would have to be the one he used to kill the monster; it was the only one strong enough to do the job. Still he would have to wait a few seconds for the charge to build.

"What are you doing?" came Jumba's voice from behind him. 003 didn't turn around; he didn't want to face those eyes again. Almost charged, just another second. "Answer me!" Jumba shouted.

"I'm just trying to help!" 003 shouted over the crackle of his attack. He didn't wait for an answer, he just ran. Holding the charge close to the ground, 003 slowly opened his wings. "Brother!" he shouted as he closed in. Stitch turned and understood what 003 was asking for. He fell to his knee and cupped his hands. 003 came upon him and placed his foot in Stitch's hands. Stitch hurled him up at the same time 003 performed a massive downbeat with his wings. The result sent 003 high into the air, well over the heads of his target. Letting out a guttural roar, 003 folded his wings and dove.

There was a huge crash of thunder as 003 connected with the middle head, splitting its neck in two. Then it hit the body, the heart, and discharged his weapon. The resulting explosion kicked up sand all around them, masking the carnage. Gantu took one look at the scene and turned to run, but he found that he couldn't move. He was held there for many agonizing seconds as the sands blew away. The sand cleared, revealing 003, his fist held out before him, his eyes locked on Gantu.

"Tell me what you know."


	5. Chapter 5: Answers in the Stars

Please Review and Please Enjoy.

**Chapter Five: Answers in the Stars**

"I said, Tell Me!" 003 shouted after Gantu remained silent for a moment. 003 tightened his fist and Gantu's back arced, causing him to grunt in pain. Slowly advancing, the enraged experiment released his fist and reached out with his other hand. The front of Gantu's shirt bunched up as if someone had grabbed him, and with a jerk of his arm, 003 pulled him to his knees. "I wasn't intending to go into your mind," 003 growled, pulling Gantu down to his level, "But you leave me no other choice. I'll make sure it's painful." The experiment placed his left palm on Gantu's forehead. Gantu suddenly went ridged and broke out into a sweat.

They stood like that for a moment, then 003 removed his hand, and Gantu collapsed to the ground. Now he understood, he knew whose fault it was. He would kill him for making him hurt his family. Looking around, 003 surveyed the damage he had done. Too much. Turning, he started off for the ship, his only way off of the planet, and the only way to his enemy.

"Stop right where you are being!" came Jumba's shout. 003 froze, only turning his head to see Jumba approaching him, hate in his eyes. Those eyes, he couldn't stand those eyes. Why couldn't Jumba see that all he was trying to do was set things right. He could tell him, but would he understand? No, either way, this was something he had to do on his own. 003 turned his head and made eye contact with Lilo. He sent her all of the information he had just learned, along with a message, _"Please don't follow me." _Then he turned back to Jumba and considered doing the same thing with him, but quickly decided against it. His form suddenly flickered and vanished. "Damn you!" Jumba shouted, realizing that 003 had used his power to block his image from their minds.

"Jumba, calm down," Lilo said softly as she rushed over to him.

"I can't," Jumba growled, his fists tightening. He stared at the place where 003 had vanished. How dare his own creation come here and deliberately try to wreck his life. It destroyed his home, tried to hurt Lilo, and nearly killed Pleakley. "He hurt Pleakley," Jumba reminded her.

"And he fixed him," Lilo responded. Jumba looked down at her. "It's true. Right before he disappeared, he told me everything. So please calm down, it wasn't his fault." She grabbed his hand as she said the last part.

"Everything, you say?" Jumba said. He kneeled and looked her in the eyes. "Did he tell you where he was going?" As if on cue, Jumba's own red space ship hovered up above the trees and shot off into space. He looked back intently at Lilo.

"Yes, but he asked me not to follow him," Lilo said tentatively.

"And Little Girl won't be following 003. Jumba and 626 will be following 003," he put his hands on Lilo's shoulders. "Where did he go?"

"To your old laboratory. He's going after Hamsterviel."

003 set the ship on autopilot and walked out of the cabin. He had a good three and a half hours before he got to his destination, and in the meantime, he had some research that he wanted to do. Entering the room with the large computer, he stole a glance at the room Pleakley had been in. 003 had moved him, and all of the life support, out of the ship prior to take off.

Taking a seat at the huge computer, 003 again hit enter. The screen lit up and, as before, the window asking for a username and password came up. In the username space, he entered 'Jumba Jookiba.' But what about the password? 003 leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. _What would my father's password be?_ 003 thought to himself. _A password is something that you know and would remember. But that gets me nowhere; Jumba knows everything. _003 opened his eyes. _And in a mind full of everything, something that you use everyday is not a thing that you memorize; it's something that you know by heart. What lies close to your heart?_ Sitting up again, 003 placed his hands on the keyboard. First he typed in 'science,' but immediately deleted it. _Way too simple. Jumba is smart enough to know that he shouldn't use something that obvious. It has to be something that someone may not notice at first glance. _

"But what?" 003 asked himself aloud. "What would someone not think about him until they knew him?" Then it came to him, his secret was the fact that he cared about those around him. He typed in 'family,' but then erased it. There was a word that had brushed across his thoughts when he had touched Lilo's mind. It was…ohana. Finally, 003 typed in 'myohana,' and hit enter. The window vanished and Jumba's personal settings came up.

"Welcome, Professor Jookiba," the computer's female voice greeted. 003 wasted no time in going to the commands menu and entering, 'open all files in relation to experiment 003.' The screen became cluttered as dozens of windows opened up. Most were just plans, blueprints, and concepts. But one thing caught his eye, video logs. He opened it up and pressed play.

An image of Jumba came up wearing a lab coat and sporting long hair. A large smile played across his face and he seemed about to bounce out of his seat. "Jumba Jookiba's experiment file number four. It is being more than a month since success of experiment 002 and Jumba is being excited about plans for 003. Experiment will be focusing on the power of mind. Scattered reports are coming in of peoples who are exhibiting above average brain patterns. If Jumba can be creating creature with similar patterns, then experiment could possess many multitudes of powers. Then, all that is needing to be done is enhance those powers to expediential levels! Ha ha! Experiment could overpower an army with mere thought! This is to being Jumba's greatest achievement ever!" The image cut away with Jumba laughing madly. 003 couldn't help but smile. He was supposed to have been Jumba's greatest achievement. His newfound mirth was short lived.

Jumba appeared on the screen again, the smile gone from his lips. He now slouched in his chair and not once did he look directly at the camera. "Jumba Jookiba's experiment file number five," his voice was barely a whisper. "003 is a failure. Jumba is not understanding why, but I am feeling more disappointed than I would have expected. Could be because my spirits are to be getting up, or because I came so close." Jumba reached out and tilted the camera to show 003's seemingly lifeless body floating in a large tube filled with liquid. "As is being shown, 003 is fully developed. Scans even show extreme levels in brain wave patterns. All tests are showing no problems, but he is Still Not Waking UP!" The shot remained silent for a time, and then Jumba reached out and tilted the camera back to him. He hid his face in his hand for a moment then continued, his voice shaky. "003 is composed 50 of Jumba's own DNA. Experiment is being large part of myself. To see it fail in such a way could almost be compared to seeing myself fail." Jumba stopped there and hid his face with his hand again. Then he sat up strait in his chair, his eyes becoming hard. "Is not mattering," Jumba practically growled, "When experiment is failure, it is worthless, is time to be moving on to next one." The image cut out.

003 sat silently for a moment, then gritted his teeth and jumped out of the chair. He grabbed the door that he had blown out earlier in his psionic grasp, and with a savage yell, flung it against the wall. His heart racing, he threw the door again and again, until his rage had played itself out. Exhausted, 003 sat back down in the chair and typed in another command. 'Bring up all information in regards to the word 'samurai.'' Windows flooded the screen again, most pulled from earth's Internet. 003 read the material for the remainder of the trip. He just soaked up all of the info, sorting through it and learning all about his idols. Unlike his kin, who were creatures of chaos, he was a being of order. His thoughts needed to be controlled, and he needed a code to govern him. He needed a code of honor.

Carefully, 003 guided the craft into the docking chamber of Jumba's old asteroid mounted laboratory. As the doors hissed open and 003 walked into the building, he took note of the eerie silence that embodied the place. It shouldn't be so quiet, not if someone was here, and 003 knew that this is where Hamsterviel had gone to after he had escaped. This was where he had woken up for the first time, only to be enslaved by that vile rodent.

"Where are you, you damn rat!?" 003 shouted against his better judgment. There went his element of surprise. He continued through the bowls of the lab, ignoring everything other than finding Hamsterviel. Until he stumbled upon a room with a large broken tube. He couldn't help himself; this was the room where he had been made, where he had slumbered for five years, where he had finally woken up. The room looked almost exactly as it had in the video file. On the back of the chair was a large lab coat. Jumba had most likely taken it off after he had made the video and never came back in for it.

003's third eye opened as he took hold of the coat. He could still feel some of the residual emotions left over from when Jumba had made him, and from when he had discovered that he wouldn't wake up. The only reason that those emotions had been left over on this garment was because it hadn't been disturbed in those many years. No matter how old, those emotions coursed through his mind as if they were fresh, sheer joy, and crushing disappointment. Conjuring a blade of force in his hand, 003 cut a long strip off of the bottom of the lab coat. Then, taking the strip in his hands, he tied it around his neck. Now he would be able to feel the reason that he was on this mission. He had to redeem himself in the eyes of his father.

"Hello there, 003," came Hamsterviel's nasally voice. 003 spun around, gripping his force blade tight. "Have you finished your task?"

"Task?" 003 growled. Already he could see the realization in Hamsterviel's eyes. "You mean assassinating an innocent little girl? No, I didn't, but let me make it up by killing you!" he shouted, taking a swipe at Hamsterviel with his sword. The blade passed harmlessly through Hamsterviel's holographic image. _Hologram? Curses, I should have caught that! I need to focus._

Hamsterviel responded with a cackling bought of laughter. The hologram faded, but his mocking laughter did not. "You pathetic excuse for an experiment," he ridiculed over the speaker system, "You're too much of an idiot to do anything correctly!" 003 shut out the continuing harassment and closed his two normal eyes. Detaching himself from his physical body, 003 sent his vision careening through the lab. After a moment, the psychic experiment was able to find Hamsterviel farther up ahead. _Should have done that in the first place_, 003 thought. He ran down the halls as the speakers spouted Hamsterviel's annoying insults.

"Be quiet," 003 growled as he entered the forward chamber of the lab. He threw his sword like a javelin, piercing the speaker above Hamsterviel's head. It shut Hamsterviel up well enough.

"How did you escape my control?" Hamsterviel demanded.

"I didn't, Jumba figured out how to free me," 003 responded, locking his gaze with Hamsterviel's.

"Jumba, that imbecile couldn't figure out the time of day!" Hamsterviel retorted.

"Shut up."

"You're an experiment anyway! I shouldn't have needed that insect to control you; you should have just done it! You were designed for evil."

"Shut up."

"But I guess that I can't even count on Jumba to do that right either. He is a complete incompetent, and it doesn't help that he has that stupid family. That's why I sent you to kill the annoying girl! She keeps turning all of the experiments good. But you couldn't even do that. I'll take care of them then, and I won't be nice about it either. I'll make it pain-"

"SHUT UP!" All of the fur on Hamsterviel's neck was suddenly pressed flat as 003 thrust his hand out. "You just shut the hell up. I won't let you hurt them. I'll kill you for what you've done to me, and to them!" Hamsterviel responded with a choked rasp, causing 003 to tighten his hold. Just as it appeared that 003 would win, and Hamsterviel would succumb to the lack of air, the wall behind the experiment was torn apart as a huge gorilla looking creature bounded through. It grabbed 003 by the head, covering his third eye with one of its huge fingers. 003 heard Hamsterviel give a few coughs and knew that his hold had been broken. With his third eye covered, he couldn't use any of his outward powers. He was helpless.

"You'll eat those words," Hamsterviel yelled.


	6. Chapter 6: Redemption

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**Chapter Six: Redemption**

"What, with all the time I am spending out here, what do you think Jumba is doing?" Jumba asked with a chuckle of amusement. His features quickly became angry again, his mouth frowning, his brow furrowed. He stood a ways into the woods behind the house with Lilo and Stitch at his side. Nani had taken Pleakley back to the house once they had found him near the site of his stolen ship. Jumba had to admit, to 003's credit; Pleakley's heart monitor was showing two steady beats. But that still didn't excuse what he had done.

"Yeah, but I still can't believe that you built a space ship. And without anyone knowing," Lilo replied, gawking. The ship before them was about one third the size of Jumba's red ship and its build was a cross between the Police Cruiser and Gantu's ship. Though he had not bothered to paint it, its natural silver sheen was impressive enough. Its cabin housed two seats and Jumba had said that there was a third in the ship's belly to man the guns.

"We had best be going before Larger Girl is coming back," Jumba said as he climbed up into the cabin.

"So we're really going to your old lab?" Lilo asked, her excitement mounting.

"No," Jumba answered, "Little Girl is not going anywhere. Jumba and 626 are going to Jumba's old lab."

"But-"

"No," Jumba's voice was firm. This was clearly not a time to try his patience. "Come, 626." Stitch gave Lilo an apologetic look then climbed up into the seat behind Jumba. The cockpit hissed shut.

"Jumba," Lilo said, her voice being played through the cockpit's speakers. "Please try and remember that it wasn't his fault." Jumba gave her a hesitant nod, and then turned to the ship's controls. The landing gear retracted as the ship hovered a few feet off of the ground.

"Please be clearing launch zone," Jumba commanded, his voice projected through speakers as well. A glance out the window held no sight of Lilo, and the ship's radar was showing nothing. She must have already cleared out. She was a smart girl. The ship slowly rose past the tree line and Jumba locked in the hyperspace coordinates. Twin engines flared as the ship broke out of orbit and vanished into space.

Nani walked out of the house as she heard the ship's sonic boom. "Lilo?" she called out.

* * *

Nearly four hours later, Jumba's silver ship docked at his old lab, right next to his red one. Until now, Jumba had never really given his old home much thought; he was surprised that the Federation hadn't destroyed it.

"626, there are weapons under seat," Jumba demonstrated by pulling out what appeared to be a brightly colored shotgun. Stitch followed his example and equipped himself with four plasma pistols. Then, they entered the lab, moving very slowly and keeping their eyes peeled. But they saw nothing, nor heard a thing. The lab appeared abandoned. They moved past doors both open and closed, pausing when Jumba noticed that 003's creation chamber was open. He stole a quick glance into the room, noting that his lab coat had been torn along the bottom. 003 had been in here. "Come, 626, I am figuring where they are being."

Jumba led the way to the main chamber of the lab. With what Jumba knew about Hamsterviel, the rat would put himself in what he considered to be the throne room. Sure enough, as the door hissed open, Hamsterviel's smug face smirked back at them.

"It was only a matter of time before you came," Hamsterviel said calmly, "So I made sure I was prepared." From behind the Jumba sized seat in which Hamsterviel sat, came 003. His stair was blank.

"Hello father, brother," he nodded at both of them in turn. It was now that Stitch noted the silver ring that was set around his third eye. Jumba had his shotgun leveled, but Stitch kept his pistols lowered. Stitch had fought alongside of 003 against the hydra, and he could tell that the experiment that stood before him now was different.

"What are you waiting for?" Hamsterviel sneered, "Kill them!" 003 snapped into action. He thrust out both of his hands, slamming the two of them into the wall. The blow had been powerful, knocking the wind out of Jumba. Stitch was unfazed. Propelling himself off of the wall, Stitch fired two shots at Hamsterviel. A force field from 003 blocked the blasts, but left the experiment open as Stitch slammed into him. Tumbling along the ground, 003 quickly righted him self and formed a sword of force. It was a saber that projected directly from his palm. Blocking three more shots, he rushed at Stitch, cutting the barrel off one of his guns. Stitch dropped the useless weapon and connected his fist with 003's face.

Jumba slowly stood up, trying desperately to catch his breath. That blow had been strong, too strong. Whatever that ring around 003's eye was, it was amplifying his powers. But the nature of 003's power was so that it couldn't be amplified. It could only be forcefully drawn out, resulting in the loss of the experiment's powers. Of course, Hamsterviel wouldn't care about that. As soon as he had caught his breath, Jumba took aim and fired at Hamsterviel, hoping to catch him while 003 was distracted. But the force field that he had thrown up before was still present; another show of 003's enhanced power. Hamsterviel just smiled.

Stitch ducked a sword swipe and returned with a plasma blast. Another blade erected from 003's palm, deflected the shot. "Enough," 003 said, his blades vanishing. He waved his hand, and Stitch's guns were ripped from his grasp. With his other hand, 003 telekinetically grabbed Stitch by the neck. He slowly lifted Stitch from the ground, his legs kicking feebly in the air.

"Drop him!" Jumba shouted, leveling his shotgun. 003 barely looked at him before disarming him with a wave of his hand. Jumba grabbed at his own neck as the invisible force began to strangle him.

"This is the end," Hamsterviel said with one of his mocking laughs, "Done in by one of your own experiments. Ha! A failure even. The only way I was able to control him was by using your old emotion-draining bug! It worked wonderfully! I even had him place one on you. He broke in during the night and planted it. But that apparently didn't work out nearly as well. It was as close as I get to asking you to join me, but you turned it down. So now you die."

Jumba's vision started to narrow, then he heard a familiar voice.

"I won't let you hurt my ohana!" Lilo shouted. She fired the shotgun before 003 had a chance to act. Stitch and Jumba dropped to the ground as 003 was thrown against the wall. Gathering his weapons, Stitch rushed over to Lilo and Jumba. She stood holding the shotgun in a white knuckled grasp, her hands trembling. Pulling the trigger had been easy when 003 had been squeezing the life out of the two, but now it dawned on her that she might have just killed him. Jumba knelt down and slowly took the weapon from her.

The dust slowly cleared around the area where 003 had impacted the wall. He had managed, just before the blast had connected, to wrap himself in a shield. Dismissing the protection, he sought out his targets, raised his hand to attack, and then stopped. He saw the newest threat, the girl, surrounded by Jumba and 626. She looked terrified, while Jumba had his arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her. He saw the emotions written clean on his face. Jumba was now scared as well. He had not been a moment before, but something had changed. Had it been coming so close to death? No, it was the girl; he was scared for the girl.

"Attack! Don't just stand there, you waste of life, kill them!" Hamsterviel was shouting. 003 felt a shudder run up his spine. The cloth that was tied around his neck grew warm, while the insect that was stuck to him grew cold. For a moment the two forces seemed to battle each other, his body racked with chills and heat flashes. But with an abrupt suddenness, it ended. Warmth flooded through him, and he felt the bug detach and fall to the floor. Instantly he saw everything in a different light, a different state of mind. The only thing that had changed, he realized, was that he could feel.

Emotions, both his own, and those from Jumba's old lab coat, raced through his mind. Anger, joy, fear, grief, and determination. He took hold of the last one and drew strength from it. Turning to Hamsterviel, 003 created a sword of force, a traditional blade held in his fist. "You're dead!" he shouted, and with the aid of his wings, leaped into the air with his sword aimed to kill.

As if sensing its master's need, the huge gorilla-like creature appeared from through a door and slammed its meaty fist into 003, tossing him aside like a rag doll. 003 quickly rebounded to his feet and took a good look at the creature. It was over double the size of any gorilla on earth. The creature's fur was a virtual tie-dye of different colors, though no bright colors were present. Its face was a nearly identical to an earthling gorilla, except for the bony ridges on the brow or the fangs that protruded from its lips. A pair of jagged bone blades extended from the back of each hand.

"Do you like _my_ experiment?" Hamsterviel cackled, "How about the one that I sent with Gantu?"

"You never could make anything correctly," Jumba commented as he approached 003, "But at least this one is being better than hydra. That one is looking like you are stitching together parts from different animals." Hamsterviel's smirk faded into a sneer as he pointed one finger at Jumba. The gorilla charged upon command, bearing down on Jumba. But 003 jumped into the monster's path, raising a hand as if to protest. The creature was hurled back, thrown clean over Hamsterviel's chair to crash into the wall.

003 turned around to face Jumba, a slight hint of fear in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he said, "I got caught again and nearly killed you both." Jumba opened his mouth to answer, but stopped as his eye caught something. 003 heard a growl behind him just as Jumba looked up. Turning around, 003 saw the gorilla was nearly on top of them. But before he could raise his hand to defend them, he caught a blue blur in the corner of his eye. Stitch slammed into the monster, sending it skidding across the floor.

"Cousin?" Stitch asked, holding out his free hand.

"Not cousin. Brother," 003 replied, taking Stitch's hand and giving it a good shake. Releasing each other, the two experiments turned to face their opponent. As the monster stood up, Stitch peppered it with plasma fire. But the shots seemed to have no effect. Each blast struck the creature's coat and evaporated into colored smoke, until one hit it in on its bare chest. The creature gave a jerk and let out a roar of pain. 003 fired a blast of telekinetic force from his hand, striking the monster in the face. It let out another roar as it stumbled back, nearly falling on Hamsterviel.

Then it made a great snorting noise, and spit forth a glob of green goop. The two experiments and Jumba leaped out of the way as the putrid concoction splattered against the floor. It sizzled, and acrid smoke rose from the area. Jumba looked over at Lilo from his position on the ground and quickly leaped to his feet. He had to get her out of here.

"626, take care of experiment! You," he pointed a thick finger at 003, "Come." His eyes bore into 003 forcing him to look down. Stitch let out a battle cry and started firing at the gorilla. As Stitch kept Hamsterviel's experiment busy, the other two made their way to Lilo. "Little Girl," Jumba began as he took a knee in front of her, "You need to go back to ship."

"I can't leave, you might need me again," Lilo responded, though her trembling took most of the strength from her words.

"You have no weapons, no powers. Little Girl is being more burden than help," Jumba said softly, "I'm sorry, but you are getting in the way." Just as he finished, a shadow eclipsed them. Jumba turned to see the gorilla experiment hanging in the air. A quick glance to the side showed 003 with both of his hands up, his third eye glowing. With a heaving motion, 003 threw the experiment back where Stitch went to work on it.

"Okay," Lilo said as Jumba turned back, "But promise me that when you get back, you'll go surfing with us." She beamed up at him, her eyes shining with moisture. Jumba nodded and Lilo wrapped her arms around him in a hug, burying her face in his belly. He placed his hand on her back and smiled.

"003," Jumba instructed, becoming stern once more, "Be taking her to ship and getting home safely." 003 nodded as Lilo parted from Jumba. He looked into Jumba's eyes as he did and was surprised to find, not anger, but a small measure of trust. "Go!" Jumba commanded as he stood up. Again, 003 nodded, taking Lilo by the hand and leading her away from the battle. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jumba turn and take aim with his shotgun.

Jumba fired the plasma shotgun, aiming for any bare spots on the hairy experiment. Hamsterviel had vanished, most likely while he was busy with Lilo. But on the bright side, the gorilla experiment looked as if it wouldn't last for very long. Not with two excellent marksmen blasting at it. He heard the hiss of a door, and spared a look out of the corner of his eyes. One of the large doors to the side had opened, revealing another gorilla experiment and a hydra experiment. Jumba turned and fired on them. His first shot hit the scaled necks of the hydra and fell as slag, while his other shot evaporated on the fur of the gorilla. Before he could get another round of shots off, the experiments split up. The hydra moved to help its fellow experiment against Stitch, while the other gorilla went after 003 and Lilo. "No!" Jumba shouted, firing vainly at the creature's furry back.

003 heard Jumba's shout, and turned to see the gorilla experiment running after them. "Run!"


	7. Chapter 7: Life and Death

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**Chapter Seven: Live and Death**

"Run!" 003 shouted, pulling Lilo along by the hand. The huge gorilla-like experiment charged after them, its fists beating against the floor. "In here!" 003 commanded, shoving her through an open door. Just as he managed to get it closed, the monster was upon him. Its bladed fist descended, impacting on a hastily thrown up shield. Despite the barrier, 003 was driven to his knees by the sheer force. Dismissing the shield, he shot the creature in the face with a blue force blast. The experiment was thrown off of its feet, slamming into the wall and landing on its back.

To his right, the door that he had hid Lilo behind slid open. "Come on," 003 urged, grabbing her wrist again. As they neared the end of the hall, 003 pushed her through another open door. This time, he closed the door behind him, sealing them both in. It took him a moment to recognize that it was his own creation chamber. The door buckled behind them as the gorilla beat at it. "Cover your eyes," 003 whispered to Lilo before he turned to face the door. A pair of bony blades then tore through the metal, opening a large gash in the door. A large red eye appeared through the tear. With but a quick glance to the side to make sure that Lilo wasn't looking, 003 locked eyes with the other experiment.

His pupils contracted sharply, leaving two slivers of white in a sea of black. The gorilla's eye opened wide, its pupil contracting as well. For that moment, their mind's linked as 003 assaulted the creature's neural pathways. He showed it its own death a thousand times in that instant, each time more horrible than the last. 003 blinked, breaking the contact. The creature's eye vanished from the door, followed by a deafening roar. A short series of crashes sounded as the gorilla slammed itself against the wall in its pain. With a final thud, the monster collapsed to the ground.

"Is it okay to look now?" Lilo asked. When 003 didn't answer, she decided to sneak a peek. She saw him on his knees, clutching his head in pain. "What's wrong?" Lilo asked, rushing to his side.

"I-I don't know. It-it feels like my head is going to explode!" 003 replied through gritted teeth.

* * *

"Hamsterviel, where are you going to, you little snake?" Jumba growled through gritted teeth. His four eyes flicked across the room. The little rodent had vanished, most likely through the same door that the two new experiments had come through. At the thought of the experiments, his eyes flickered back to the hall. He saw the gorilla sprawled across the floor a little farther down the hall than when 003 had shot it. They would be okay. Right now he had to focus on what was happening right here.

"626, take hydra!" Jumba shout the command. Stitch didn't respond, instead, he just moved. He leaped into the air and bounced off of the gorilla's head, landing in front of the hydra. Its three heads all turned to consider him at once, but Stitch only stayed stationary for a second. Leaping into the air once more, he punched the middle head on top of the snout, slamming the head into the floor. The other two heads responded with twin flamethrowers. Stitch accepted the fire gladly, sighing as the flames relaxed his muscles like a sauna. Dropping out of the fire, 625 landed next to the dazed middle head. Without hesitation, he plugged the barrel of one his blaster into its nostril and fired. The head gave a violent jerk before lying still.

Jumba took aim and fired. The bolt of green plasma hit the gorilla in its bare chest, causing a howl of pain. Before he could get another shot off, another glob of acid snot was spat his way. Rolling to the side, Jumba scrunched up his face as it spattered all over the ground. The stuff smelled horrible; like rotten eggs mixed with fish mixed with wet dog mixed with… he couldn't even identify all of the bad smells. Even worse was the fact that the stuff now littered the floor, great splotches eating at the metal tiles.

Just as he got to his feet, Jumba had to roll to his side again. This time, the gorilla had decided to charge at him. Its two blades dug into the floor where he had just stood. Jumba fired point blank from his spot on the floor. The blast hit the creature's stomach, causing it to stumble back. But before he could get good footing, the gorilla attacked him again. His only defense was to lift up his gun. Twin blades sliced into the weapon, lodging themselves into the gun. "Oh, Blitznak," Jumba swore. With all his might, he pushed the gun and hand away from him and leaped to his feet. He ran as fast as his bulk would allow, not looking back. A tremendous explosion blew him off his feet as the gun detonated. Jumba landed on his face, sliding into the wall.

Coughing on dust and other noxious fumes, Jumba slowly got to his feet. Placing one of his mammoth hands over his mouth, he waited for the smoke to clear. He was not made for this. The metallic taste of blood permeated his mouth from a split lip and his every muscle screamed in protest. But as the smoke thinned, he saw that his injuries had been worth it. All that remained of the gorilla experiment was smear on the floor. There were most likely some other parts lying around, but he didn't care to go find them. Instead, he stumbled out of the smoke cloud to aid 626.

* * *

003 growled, baring his fangs in pain. A stabbing pain shot through his head, originating from his third eye. His mental assault on the gorilla apparently triggered it, but he had done that before, to Stitch. Something had to be different this time.

"What about this ring?" Lilo asked, pointing to his forehead. Placing a hand over his third eye, he felt the warmed metal of Hamsterviel's power enhancer. 003 grasped the edges and pulled. He could feel the ring move, but the pain was too much for him to do it himself.

"I need you to remove it," 003 ordered. Lilo opened her mouth to object. "You need to do it. Don't stop until it's off." She nodded and reached out. The surface was smooth, but she was able to get her nails underneath the ring's lip. "Pull!" 003 shouted in pain. Lilo pulled with all her might. 003's eye snapped open immediately, shining dully with a blue light. As she made progress, Lilo could feel an invisible force trying to push her away. The more she pulled, the stronger the force was. "Keep going!" 003 shouted when she hesitated. With a blast of force that knocked them both off their feet, the ring came loose. They both got up and Lilo took a look at him. Besides a pair of bloody dots on either side of his eye, 003 appeared fine.

But there were a few changes that she hadn't noticed before. His hair was now entirely gray, although his green fur hadn't changed. The tails of the white cloth that he now wore hung down to his elbows. But the most dramatic change was the way that he stood. No longer was he hidden behind a tattered cloak, his face a blank slate. 003 stood up a hair taller than her, his wings flared out, and his eyes practically shining with a steadfast determination. He was a whole new experiment, and she could see that Jumba understood that as well.

"We need to get going," 003 said after a moment. He thrust out his hand and the twisted door was blown off of its hinges. "Come on," he offered her his hand. She took it and he led her out the door. They moved slowly past the unconscious gorilla, which was slumped against the wall, drooling all over itself. Lilo took a look down the hall in hopes of seeing Stitch or Jumba. But she couldn't see anything besides the random flashes of plasma fire.

Finally, they reached the door to the docking ports. It hissed open as they approached it. "Take the red ship," 003 instructed, "I already have Earth's location programmed in."

"You're not coming?" Lilo asked in surprise.

"No. My father instructed me to get you home safely. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to abandon him or my brother. Once you get on that ship, it will take you back home," 003 said with a tone of finality. Lilo nodded, she could see that there would be no arguing with him. Just as she set foot through the doorway, a huge explosion lit up the hallway and knocked her off her feet. Her ears rang from the deafening bang, but she could still hear enough to hear 003's answer when she asked what happened.

"It sounded like a plasma overload in the main chamber," he shouted. Apparently his hearing had taken a hit as well. She caught some movement out of the corner of her eye. When she looked again, she saw the gorilla experiment had gotten up, its head reared back to spit.

"003!" Lilo shouted. At her warning, he threw up a shield around them. Just as he completed the protective bubble, large glob of acid snot splattered all over it. The acid hissed as it ate away at their barrier.

"Lilo," 003 grunted, his arms out as if he were carrying some great weight on his back, "When I release the shield, I need you to run to the ship and leave." When she voiced her consent, 003 turned around, and with a great heaving motion, rapidly expanded the force field. Once the acid was flung away, he released the shield and Lilo took off running. She looked over her shoulder once and saw 003 materialize a sword. Then she kept running. Jumba had told her to get home, 003 had told her to get home, and she knew that Stitch wanted her to get home as well. But as she neared the red ship's docking station, she heard a voice that made her stop in her tracks.

"You won't be going anywhere," Hamsterviel cackled.

* * *

003 summoned his blade, fashioned after the katanas of the ancient Japanese samurai. The gorilla experiment was slowly lumbering towards him, its blades scraping against the floor. Glancing over his shoulder to make sure that Lilo was still running, 003 charged. His sudden movement caused the experiment to do the same. Roaring madly, the experiment came down on him, its blades seeking his flesh. Shifting his momentum at the last moment, 003 turned to the side and stuck his sword into the beast's arm. A sick purple blood sprayed out. With a roar of pain, the gorilla pulled its arm way, resulting in more blood.

Using the distraction to his benefit, 003 raised his hand and shot a thin beam of force. The beam lanced into the beast's shoulder and threw it up against the wall. Because his attacks weren't plasma, the creature's fur didn't offer any degree of protection. Not missing a beat, 003 launched himself at the experiment, burying his sword in the monstrosity's chest. In its death throes, the beast flailed out and caught 003 across the face with one massive fist. 003 was flung against the far wall. Getting up slowly, he saw the experiment collapse and succumb to its wounds. Only then did his sword fade away. Besides a couple of bruises and a superficial cut on his eyebrow, he hadn't gotten injured.

He looked down the hallway, back at the room where the explosion had come from. To his delight, he saw more plasma fire. "At least one of them is alright," he muttered to himself. Turning to the door, he waited for it to hiss open. As soon as it did, 003 threw himself against the wall in an attempt to hide. But just as he had seen Hamsterviel, he knew that he had been spotted as well.

"Come out, 003," Hamsterviel called, "We have the girl." _We,_ 003 thought, _He said we. Which type of experiment does he have with him now?_ 003 re-created his sword and then moved back into the doorway. Hamsterviel stood at the far end of the room, a lightning arc blaster in his grip. To his right stood a different experiment, it was the size of a small horse and looked like a strange cross between an armadillo and a porcupine. The most noticeable thing was that it was covered in spikes each over a foot long. Its long tail ended in a large cluster of these spikes. As soon as 003 took a step forward, the experiment snapped its tail forward, hurling a volley of spikes at him. The spikes moved quickly, leaving 003 unable to construct a shield in time. Instead, he dodged to his right, using his sword to knock away a projectile in his path.

As he rolled to his feet, another torrent of barbs was on its way. 003 thrust his hand forward and the spikes clattered to the ground as their momentum was canceled out. Another volley fired at him. This time, however, 003 was ready. He charged forward, his sword moving as quickly as his arm would allow. Many of the barbs were parried, falling to the ground in pieces while others were ignored as they whizzed by his ears. Out of the corner of his eye, 003 saw Hamsterviel heft the electric arc blaster up to fire. He threw himself to the side as hard as he could as a bolt of lightning seared through the air. Landing hard on his side, 003 found himself a mere ten steps away form a shaking Lilo.

"Enough of this!" Hamsterviel shouted, "Just kill the girl!" The spiky experiment turned its eye on Lilo, its tail flexing back. 003 was moving before his could comprehend what he was doing. He knew he wasn't fast enough to weave a shield around them, nor could he set up a sufficient stance in time to block the attack. So he acted on a combination of instinct and resolve.

Lilo, expecting to feel the sharp points of a dozen barbs, was surprised when all she felt was the dull, blunt pain of hitting the floor. She opened her eyes and gasped in shock and dismay. 003 lay on top of her, the dozen quills protruding from his back. A few of the spikes had pierced his wings, pinning him to the floor. "No," Lilo whispered, "Why?"

"I-I couldn't l-let you down," 003 replied softly, "I owe you t-to much." He winced as the dark spikes dissolved into a black dust.

"You don't owe me anything," Lilo sobbed. She pulled herself out from under him and laid him in her lap.

"I-I can n-never repay you for what I've done," he said. His eyes were unfocused, looking at nothing in particular.

"No! You can't hold yourself responsible for that," Lilo insisted. She jumped as his hand shot out, and when she looked up she realized that he was keeping the experiment away with an invisible wall of force. The experiment had now rolled itself into a large, spiked ball and was attempting to plow over them. As she watched, it still made slow progress. 003's powers were slowly failing. Trails of blood ran out of his nose and mouth.

"Naga!" came a guttural shout from the doorway. Then a blur of blue shot across the room and impacted with the experiment, sending it into the wall. Stitch unfurled from his ball form and grabbed one of the experiment's spikes in each of his four paws. Pulling it out of its crater in the wall, Stitch proceeded to spin the experiment in two full rotations before flinging it across the room into the wall opposite them. Turning on Hamsterviel, Stitch crouched low, his spines quivering.

"One shot is all it takes to fry all of you," Hamsterviel warned, his lightning arc gun aimed squarely at Stitch. Stitch just growled.

"He speaks the truth, 626," Jumba said from the doorway. He was unarmed; the remaining blasters had been destroyed when they killed the hydra. "The electric arc blaster is designed to leap between multiple targets."

"At least the idiot understands something," Hamsterviel snarled.

"So what are you waiting for?" Jumba asked as he calmly walked over to stand beside Stitch, "You are having advantage. Use it to escape."

"Maybe. But then again, this is just too good of an opportunity to pass up. I think I'll just kill you all right now and be done with it!" Hamsterviel cackled. Stitch's ear twitched as he suddenly began to smell the fear roll off of Jumba. Although 003 lacked Stitch's amazing olfactory sense, he could feel the sudden change in Jumba's demeanor.

"Help me up," he whispered to Lilo. She complied and put his right arm around her shoulders to support his weight.

"You are knowing that 626 will survive the shock, so why don't you just leave?" Jumba argued.

"Ah, yes. But he will still be rendered unconscious, so I can still escape," Hamsterviel answered, his smile widening. 003 looked around Jumba to see. His vision was blurry, and there was a darkness at the edges of his vision. If he was going to do anything, it would have to be right now. He held out his hand, palm up and tried to form a charge. Despite the fact that outside forces of electricity caused him to lose his powers for a time, he was able to utilize the electrical power of his own nervous system to begin a charge. From there, it was just a matter of stabilizing it and building upon it with his normal powers. A matter, it seemed, that he was incapable of right now. His mind was too far-gone and he couldn't focus enough to hold the charge. He would need something to brace it against.

With a grunt, he placed his hand against the floor and used it to help him. He built the charge as fast as he could, and soon a large ball of crackling electricity was tearing a hole in the floor. "What is that?" Hamsterviel asked suspiciously, craning his neck around Jumba to see. But before he could get a good look, 003 took off. How he was able to move was beyond him, but now he was running on pure determination. Keeping the charge against the ground, 003 ripped a shallow trench in the floor as he ran around Jumba. As soon as he cleared the scientist's bulk, Hamsterviel trained the arc blaster on him and fired. Without thinking, 003 lifted the charge and allowed the lightning blast to strike it. He felt the electricity sear through his body, and he noticed out of the corner of his darkening vision that his charge had become red. Now using the lightning to stabilize his electric charge, 003 closed the distance between them in an instant. With a painful roar, he brought the lightning down on Hamsterviel's head and released the charge.

There was a flash of blinding light and a tremendous bang as the released charge ripped through the two of them. 003 risked opening his eyes just a sliver and found that he was seeing double. But one of the Hamsterviels moved, brandishing a metallic fist and punching him in the face. He was thrown from the raging electrical charge and landed in a heap at Jumba's feet. After a short fit of bloody coughing, 003 looked up and gasped. His lightning attack, despite lasting longer than normal, had now ceased. But what caused his shock was the realization of his utter failure. For instead of one less Hamsterviel standing before them, there where now two. The new Hamsterviel was different, the entire right side of his body appeared to be made out of metal.

"Ah, Jagga," the new Hamsterviel chuckled, addressing Jumba, who was now kneeling over 003, "Don't you remember what I told you last time?" The new Hamsterviel waited for a second, as if expecting an answer. "No? I said I'd kill you." He lifted his metallic hand, and from the wrist unfolded a small laser blaster. Just as the new Hamsterviel fired, 003 flung himself against Jumba, knocking him onto his back. A thin yellow beam fired through 003's chest, lancing the whole way through before the force of it flung him against the wall behind them. "Come," the new Hamsterviel ushered a surprised Hamsterviel to the dock of Jumba's silver ship.

"003," Jumba whispered slowly, looking back first at the bloodstain on the wall, then to 003's limp body on the floor. He jumped up and ran over to his experiment, pausing only to exchange a pained glance with Lilo. Scooping up 003's unmoving form, he checked the experiment's pulse with one of his fat fingers. It was faint. "Little Girl, 626, come," Jumba ordered, rushing into his red ship. He ran to the medical chamber and laid 003 upon the table. As he hurried to connect his experiment to all of the monitors, he heard his other two charges come in. But he didn't turn to look; no, he couldn't afford the time. When the heart monitor was connected, the room was filled with a weak beeping. Even as they listened, the beeping slowed down, became quieter. Then, just as Jumba was reaching for a piece of equipment, it flat lined.

"No!" Jumba roared, ripping a piece of machinery from a shelf. He took the paddles off of the machine and waited the four agonizing seconds it took to charge. Then he placed the paddles against the fur of 003's bloodstained chest and activated it. 003's body jumped, and a single beep sounded before going flat again. Three more times he repeated this, getting the same results three more times.

"Jumba," Lilo called out, grabbing his sleeve. He turned to look at her, his eyes bleary with tears. "Stop," she said, her own eyes tearing up, "There's nothing more to do." Jumba dropped the useless paddles and fell to his knees. Lilo embraced him quickly, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck. He enveloped her in a hug, lifting her up. Together they cried, and Stitch, standing in the doorway, felt a tear himself.

Lilo opened her eyes and looked past Jumba's shoulder at 003's lifeless body. Then she gasped. "Jumba, look," she said. He turned with her, and she felt his shock as a sudden jump in his heart rate. 003 no longer lay on the table; instead, he floated several feet off of its surface. A tangible energy radiated out from his form, blowing outwards like a strong wind. His body was also shining brilliantly, so bright that they had to shield their eyes. Then, just as quickly as it had begun, it was over. 003 fell back to the table, his body no longer aglow. Only one thing had changed. There was now a steady beep.

"How?" Jumba whispered. "How is that possible?"

Lilo smiled, "Why don't you ask him when he wakes up?"

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**Author's note: This is not the last chapter. Please stay tuned for the conclusion. I promise that I won't take as long to write it as in the past. Thank you all for reading. **


	8. Chapter 8: Promises

Please Review and Please Enjoy

**Chapter Eight: Promises**

"Are you being ready, Little Girl?" Jumba asked as he stuck his head into the newly finished living room.

"Yeah, it's about time," Lilo responded with a laugh. "When you promised to go surfing, I didn't think it would be weeks after the fact."

"We were having to rebuild the room you are now sitting in," Jumba argued defensively.

"Stop bickering you two!" commanded Pleakley from the kitchen, "I'm trying to make sandwiches."

"Do not be trying too hard," Jumba called before his head vanished from the doorway. Lilo heard him chuckling as he walked to the back of the house, most likely to get Stitch and 003. The thought of the green experiment made her glance out the front window; it would be a long time before she could forget that he tore out the entire front of their house. But as soon as they had gotten back, he had sworn to Nani that he would fix the wall and living room. It had only taken two weeks, with the help of Stitch and Jumba. Well, it was really Stitch and Jumba who did all of the work, 003 was still too damaged to help, although he wouldn't let them do everything. He drew up the blueprints and supervised, his third eye allowing him to see any flaws.

"Do not be forgetting disguise!" she heard Jumba call.

"I don't need one," came a familiar voice from just outside of the door. A second later, 003 walked into the room, shouting back at Jumba, "Remember?" 003 looked at her and flashed a quick smile before walking into the kitchen. He wore bandages around most of his torso, and patches dotted his wings where the spikes had gone through. Jumba had explained to her that although 003 was still an experiment, his healing was still much slower than any of the other experiments. He only healed a little faster than a human.

"Ahhh!" Pleakley shouted from the kitchen. Lilo craned her neck to see. 003 stood in front of Pleakley, who had thrown the kitchen knife he was using up into the air. As it came down, 003 caught it by the handle and offered it back. Pleakley took it with a shaking hand, and 003 turned and walked back into the living room to sit down on the couch.

By the time they had gotten back from their outer space fiasco, Pleakley had already woken up. Upon first seeing 003 again, he had flipped out, running through the wreckage of the house and into the back room. Since then, he would let out a yelp every time he saw the experiment and wouldn't stop trembling until one of them left. As a result, Pleakley had spent a lot of his time in his room. This apparently bothered 003, as he couldn't understand why Pleakley didn't remember the conversation that they had had.

"Okay, is finally being time to go," Jumba said as he walked into the living room with Stitch at his heels. He was wearing a pair of swimming trunks and a huge white shirt that fit him even better than his typical Hawaiian shirts did. "Come on," he waved them to the door as Lilo and 003 jumped off of the couch. "Pleakley, let us be going," Jumba called back as he walked out the front door.

"I don't think I'm going," Pleakley replied just loud enough to be heard. Jumba stopped halfway out the door and put his face in his hand.

"Be getting in buggy, I will be right back," he commanded. He walked back into the house and Lilo managed to hear "We talked about this…" before she was out of earshot.

"He doesn't want to come because of me," 003 said, more a statement than a question.

"Oh, it's just Pleakley. He'd be scared of you even if your only power was something totally harmless," Lilo reassured him as the three of them climbed into the back of the buggy. Behind them, two surfboards were strapped to the back.

"Ih," Stitch said with a nod. A few moments later, Jumba came out of the door leading a very hesitant Pleakley. Under Pleakley's arm hung a picnic basket. Jumba nearly had to push Pleakley into the passenger's seat when the jumpy alien saw 003.

"And now we are ready to go," Jumba said as he squeezed the driver's seatbelt across his bulk. "003?" The experiment nodded, then closed his eyes and sat silent for a moment. After a brief moment, his form shimmered and changed into a perfect replica of a five or six year old Hawaiian boy. Lilo, as always, could see strait through the illusion, seeing the boy as nothing more than a shadow over the alien experiment. The boy opened his eyes and smiled. "Very good," Jumba said, "And off we are going." The large alien started the buggy and pulled out into the street.

As they drove, Lilo turned to consider the veiled experiment next to her. 003 had woken up from his coma only two hours after he had entered it, but when he had, he had quickly discovered a terrible surprise. He was powerless. All but what he had called the most basic of his powers were totally out of his reach. Now he was only able to muster simple illusions and do a bit of mind reading, and that only for a short period of time. His illusions, for example, only lasted a little over an hour before they began to fade away. After he had gotten over his initial shock, he no longer appeared to be worried in the least. 'They will come back when I need then again,' was all that he would say when someone would ask him.

"What?" 003 asked once he noticed her starring at him. Both the boy and the experiment gave her a strange look.

"Nothing," Lilo answered quickly, "Look, we're here." They had arrived at the small beach that Lilo and Jumba had picked out the night before. Although it was small, around dinnertime the place was empty. So they had planned a beach picnic because Nani had gone to work. They all bustled out of the buggy and set up the blankets. "Come on, Jumba," Lilo called as she grabbed a surfboard and headed for the water.

As Jumba rushed after her, Stitch turned to 003 and pulled a small traveling chess set from behind his back. "Want to play?" Stitch asked in his alien tongue.

"Don't you want to go with them?" 003 asked in the same language, nodding his head toward Jumba and Lilo.

Stitch shrugged, "She's been waiting a long time for this; I figure I'll let her enjoy herself. Besides, somebody has to keep you and Pleakley from getting in trouble." 003 nodded and sat down as Stitch set up the board. "You take first move," Stitch offered. Taking the white pawn, 003 moved it up two spaces.

"I didn't mean to," 003 said as Stitch made his move, "But last night, while we were all watching that movie, I caught a couple of Nani's thoughts." Stitch looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Like I said, it was an accident; you know that I'm having trouble with my powers. But, anyway, it was when Lilo was sitting on Jumba's lap. Nani glanced over and I just caught this series of dredged up memories. Lilo's dad was apparently a lot like Jumba. Minus the quarter-ton evil alien scientist part, of course."

"You heard what happened to her parents, I assume," Stitch asked as 003 made another move.

"Nobody told me, but I'm pretty sure I have it figured out." Stitch have him a look that said 'how so?' "Lilo had a nightmare the night after our little adventure, and, well, I picked up a lot of it," 003 replied sheepishly, "Again, I didn't mean to, she was just sending out such strong images. It was a car crash, wasn't it?"

Stitch nodded slowly as he made his move. "I heard that you and Lilo got into an argument," Stitch tried to say it nonchalantly. 003 just nodded. "Over your name?" Stitch prodded.

"Yeah," he made another move, "She wanted to name me something stupid, like 'Mento,' or 'Psych.' I just told her that she wouldn't be the one to name me. Either he names me," he pointed a thumb at Jumba, who was currently falling off of his board, "or I name me. It's nothing against her, I'm just not comfortable getting named by a seven-year-old." Stitch just shrugged.

They continued for another hour, finishing two games and beginning a third. They were the chess players that nerds dreamed about, a supercomputer verses a genius. Stitch won the first game, and 003 the second. Their third game was going strong, with no real winner, when 003 said, "They're going to fall." Stitch looked up from the board and saw Jumba and Lilo on the same board, riding on a nice wave. "He hasn't taken her weight into account," 003 explained. Just as he finished, their board tipped forward and sent them flying into the water ahead. Both of their heads bobbed out of the water and Jumba started swimming in. Lilo swam over to the board and paddled after him.

"I am thinking that is enough for today, Little Girl," the two experiments heard Jumba say as he climbed up onto the beach. "I am being exhausted. We will try again another time, umm?" Lilo gave an exited nod, and then called over to Stitch to come join her. Stitch looked at 003, just to see of he minded the interruption. 003 nodded that it was fine, looking down at the chessboard as Stitch ran down the beach. He took a mental picture of the pieces current set up, just in case Stitch wanted to finish their game. As he took down the chess set, Jumba laid down where Stitch had gotten up. "Would you be getting me sandwich, 003?" Jumba asked as he stuffed the shirt he had been wearing beneath his head.

003 reached into the basket next to him and pulled out a plastic wrapped sandwich the size of his head. Jumba took it without a word and unwrapped it. Stealing a glance at Lilo and Stitch as they goofed around on the surfboard, 003 laid down very carefully on his back. He bent his one wing up to shield his eyes from the last rays of the sun. The illusion of the Hawaiian boy had faded awhile ago.

"Be careful with wing," Jumba said with his mouth full. Letting his wing drop, the experiment looked out at the ocean. "You are wanting to go in?" Jumba asked after he swallowed. 003 just nodded his head. "Well, bandages are only for another week. After that, salty ocean water will actually be helping wound."

They were silent again for a few moments, until 003 asked, "Are you going to contact the Grand-counsel-woman about that new Hamsterviel?"

"No," Jumba answered, again with his mouth full. He swallowed, and then continued, "If the Grand-counsel found out that I was going back to lab, they would be putting me back in jail. So this is completely our problem."

"You mean my problem," 003 stated.

"003," Jumba said, turning his head to look at his experiment, "There is something that you have to be understanding. It was taking even me a while to be figuring it out. Once you become a part of this family, you can count on them for anything. So, no, it is not your problem, it is our problem."

"I still don't understand why all of you aren't acting like he is," 003 said, jerking his head toward Pleakley, who was sitting on the other end of the blanket.

"Because he only got to see the bad you," Jumba said softly. "We all got to see the real you. You saved Little Girl's life repeatedly. And you were saving my life." He sighed and turned his head to look back up, placing his half-eaten sandwich on the blanket. "When you didn't wake up, I was being devastated. But you know that," he pointed at the cloth around 003's neck. "What you don't know is how I felt when you woke up. Although insect experiment kept me from feeling anything, once it was off, I felt everything. You only saw me angry, that is why you still flinch when I move toward you. But underneath that, I was feeling proud. Although delayed, you had woken up. And your powers, ooh, they were beyond what I had hoped for. You where beyond what I had hoped for." He looked over at 003, and saw the widest of smiles.

"She can do it as well, you know," 003 said.

"Who?"

"Lilo, she has mental powers."

"What?" Jumba nearly shouted, sitting up faster than he had thought possible. At his sudden movement, 003 had leaped to his feet a little too fast and was now on his knee, clutching at the site of his wounds in pain. When Jumba reached a hand out to comfort him, he took a step back, just as Jumba had said. Before the experiment could react, Jumba scooped him up and sat him on his lap. "What were you saying?" Jumba asked once the pained expression had left 003's face.

"Lilo has mental powers. Or rather, she could, if I trained her to use them. That's how she is able to see through my illusions." 003 said.

"Have you told her?"

"No."

"Then promise me, promise that you won't tell her," Jumba commanded. His eyes looked into him, but 003 found that they no longer pierced him.

"Why?"

"Because, Little Girl is getting in over her head as it is. If she thinks that she can do more because she has powers, then I'm afraid that she may get in too deep for us to pull her out."

"I understand your logic. Even if I don't agree with it," 003 said.

"003, promise me…"

"I promise," the experiment swore. As soon as he did, he could feel the tension drain from Jumba's muscles. His creator understood that 003's word was unbreakable. A chilled wind swept through the beach as the sun disappeared. 003, careful not to overextend, wrapped his wings around him like a blanket. Jumba, for all his insulation, didn't notice.

"So," Jumba said after a few moments, "Little Girl is telling me that you won't let her name you. Says that you told her that either I would be naming you, or you would." 003 nodded. Jumba bent closer to the experiment, wrapping one arm around him. "Well, I am hearing very neat earth name recently. How would you feel about Jason?" 003 smiled, noting the J. He had read that Jumba's race had a tradition of the father naming the son something that began with the same letter.

"I think it sounds great," Jason said with a smile.

* * *

**Author's note: Thus ends my story 'Five Years.' I would like to thank everyone who read it, and everyone who reviewed. A special thanks to and crazydbzfan87 everyone else who stayed with me the whole way. Please keep your eyes open for a sequel, which should be coming out sometime in November. **


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